Sunday, October 26, 2008

Experiencing warp speed at Lamborghini Track Day

Many of us can only dream of owning one of these luxury cars, but 21-year-old Quincy Liu is one lucky guy. He has not only owned one, but has just bought his second Lamborghini.

"I bought the first one in 2006. It was a grey Lamborghini Roadster. I replaced it with the LP640," said Quincy.

Quincy is the youngest Lamborghini owner in Houston, and was also the first person in Texas to own the LP640. He also owns four other cars including an Aston Martin, which is my dream car. Like I said, he's a lucky guy...with great taste in cars.

THE NEED FOR SPEED

But owning the car is the just the beginning for these drivers. There's also the racing aspect.

You can't blame them for wanting to go fast. Because, let's face it...if you owned a car that was built for speed and people told you it could from zero to sixty mph in 3.4 seconds, wouldn't you want to try it out?

That's exactly what Quincy and his 19-year-old brother Brian were going to during Lamborghini Track Day at Motorsport Ranch Houston, but they were going to be smart about it. They were going to take a racing lesson on the track first.

But surprisingly, even though it was the annual event for owners to show off their cars, Quincy and Brian didn't bring the new yellow Lamborghini. Instead they brought the BMW M3.

"We didn't want to bring the Lamborghini just in case something goes wrong on the track," said Quincy. "Today will be our first time."

"Yeah, with the BMW, we can really go for it, but in the other car, we would be more careful," said Brian.

All of the Lamborghini owners at the track were just as passionate about speed and performance as the Lui brothers, including John and Melinda Novak. The Novaks got hooked on racing last year at this same event.

"I bought a Lamborghini and was invited to Track Day. I got hooked that day and bought a second Lamborghini. Today we purchased a garage at the track. That's how addictive it is," said Melinda.

Both John and Melinda took their racing lesson last year, and now the husband and wife team speed around the track together."Melinda races the Gallardo Spyder and I race my Porche 911 Twin Turbo," said John.

The couple said they come out to Motorsport Ranch a couple of times a month.

"But now that we own the garage, it will be more often," said Melinda.

HANDS ON PASSION

But what really impressed me about Melinda and John is that they don't bring along a mechanic or a pit crew. They do their own work and replace their own tires. They said you learn as you go because you love the cars so much.

"It just comes with it. You feel your car slipping on the track so you get on the internet and learn. Or you talk to other drivers at the track or talk to the Lamborghini dealership," said John.

"With the garage, we'll be able to store some of the supplies like spare tires," said Melinda.

Quincy and Brian are the same. Ask them anything about cars, and they'll have the answer for you.

"We're car freaks," said Quincy. "We watch every car show and read everything on the internet. This is our passion."

So what do guys like this look for when buying an exotic car?

"We look at the appearance, horsepower and the performance. If it has all three of these, then you talk about the money," said Brian. "You don't look at price first with this type of car."

EXPERIENCING WARP SPEED

If you've been following my blog, you probably already figured out that I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie, however I've never raced on a track (except for go-carting).

Gary Seale, the Owner and GM of Lamborghini Houston said I could take my Honda out for spin, but I didn't want to do that. What I did want to do is go for a ride in the new Lamborghini... and I wanted it to go fast. Maybe not the full 202 mph, but pretty close.

For some reason, Gary didn't trust me behind the wheel, but he did take me out himself so I could experience what it feels like to be in one of the fastest accelerating cars of 2009.

Let me just tell you that going from zero to sixty was a complete rush.

Ever watch Star Trek when they go to warp speed? That's exactly how it feels (or how I imagine warp speed to feel like). One minute you're enjoying the comfy leather seats, and three seconds later, you're thrown back into them from the speed.

I now know why Quincy and Brian are addicted to fast cars. It's not the lifestyle; it's the thrill of living in the moment.